The class V myosin motor protein, Myo2, plays a major role in mitochondrial motility in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The actin cytoskeleton is essential for polarized, bud-directed movement of cellular membranes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and thus ensures accurate inheritance of organelles during cell division. Also, mitochondrial distribution and inheritance depend on the actin cytoskeleton, though the precise molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here, we establish the class V myosin motor protein, Myo2, as an important mediator of mitochondrial motility in budding yeast.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism to study mitochondrial biology: general considerations and basic procedures.

Budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used to study mitochondrial biogenesis and function. We review some basic properties that make yeast an ideal model organism to investigate various aspects of mitochondrial biology. We discuss genetic features of commonly used yeast strains that are important for mitochondrial studies.

Molecular machinery of mitochondrial dynamics in yeast.

Mitochondria are amazingly dynamic organelles. They continuously move along cytoskeletal tracks and frequently fuse and divide. These processes are important for maintenance of mitochondrial functions, for inheritance of the organelles upon cell division, for cellular differentiation and for apoptosis.

Role of essential genes in mitochondrial morphogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Mitochondria are essential organelles of eukaryotic cells. Inheritance and maintenance of mitochondrial structure depend on cytoskeleton-mediated organelle transport and continuous membrane fusion and fission events. However, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae most of the known components involved in these processes are encoded by genes that are not essential for viability.

Mdm31 and Mdm32 are inner membrane proteins required for maintenance of mitochondrial shape and stability of mitochondrial DNA nucleoids in yeast.

The MDM31 and MDM32 genes are required for normal distribution and morphology of mitochondria in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They encode two related proteins located in distinct protein complexes in the mitochondrial inner membrane. Cells lacking Mdm31 and Mdm32 harbor giant spherical mitochondria with highly aberrant internal structure.